


Slow Progression

by KibaSin



Series: Past Time [66]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Naruto
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Matchmaking, One Shot, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 16:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KibaSin/pseuds/KibaSin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Ino's eyes they needed to hurry up and admit they liked each other, while Chouji simply wanted to go home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Progression

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any material belonging to _Inuyasha_ or _Naruto._

* * *

"Ouch! Chouji, move over will ya?" Ino complained, pushing at her teammate.

Chouji rolled his eyes, complying so that she would stop yelling at him. Or  _whispering_ _loudly_ , as she called it. Really, they were so going to be caught if she could not keep her big mouth shut. Though, Chouji figured that would not be such a bad thing, considering Shikamaru would get off his lazy butt when he was good and ready to. Shikamaru might be lazy, after all, but he was not stupid enough to let a good thing walk away.

Especially when he knew that good thing had the attention of rivals.

"Chouji!" Ino snapped, glaring at the bag in his hands. "Stop eating those! You're going to blow our cover."

"You're going to blow our cover, Ino," Chouji whispered. "Try keeping your voice down, before they hear you."

Ino huffed, wondering, why had she brought him again? However, she turned her eyes away from the boy eating from his bag of chips, and looked toward the two sitting in the grass. She reached out, parting the bush in front of her a bit more, and tried to will Shikamaru to make his move through her eyes. It did not work, but she did notice when he reached up to scratch the spot she had been staring at. So, she stared a bit harder.

Shikamaru glanced up, and Ino ducked back behind the bush just in time. After a minute she looked back over the bush, noticing that Shikamaru had returned his eyes to the village, and sighed.

"You know, Ino—" Chouji sighed.

"What?" Ino asked.

"—you're going to get us caught," Chouji continued. "Shikamaru's not going to be fooled by that move twice."

"Ha!" Ino cried. "I'm surprised he was fooled once, Chouji. He's such a genius, yet you'd think he would have noticed us by now. But no, Shikamaru is lazy and probably doesn't even care! Though, I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised, he is sitting next to his one true love, after all."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Chouji said, before munching on another chip. "If Shikamaru wants to date, then he will. You can't just force a girl on him, Ino."

Ino gasped, "But this isn't just any girl! This is Higurashi Kagome, the girl that's got the attention of most of the village because she  _doesn't_  notice them." Ino was rather bitter about that, because she had noticed the way Sasuke's eyes slithered toward the girl once or twice. She was positive she could win back his attention, though, as soon as she got Shikamaru to admit to his desire. "Shikamaru likes her, she likes him! This is a perfect match and you're not going to ruin it."

"I still think you should leave them alone," Chouji replied.

"Then why don't you go away and let me handle this on my own?" Ino asked.

Chouji shrugged.

Ino scowled at him, growling, "That's not an answer, Chouji. If you don't want to be here, then leave. There's nothing stopping you, and I'm sure that I can get them together much faster if you're not here."

Chouji rolled his eyes, saying, "You just want them together because she's caught the attention of Uchiha Sasuke."

Ino gasped, quickly coming up with something that would deny that fact. Yes, she knew it was true, but she did not want to actually admit it. Especially when Kagome was her friend, which was probably the only reason the Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club had decided to leave her alone once she looked confused as to why they were demanding she stay away from Sasuke. Ino knew that she did not spend time with Sasuke, she did not even look at him like she was trying to catch his attention, but deep down she knew that Chouji was right.

"Don't try to deny it," Chouji continued. "We both know that is the only reason you're suddenly so interested in the fact Shikamaru's been spending the most time with Kagome."

Frustrated, Ino let out a vicious cry of, "Nuh-uh!"

The only thing that saved her from being caught was Chouji's quick jerk to her shirt, causing her to topple to the ground. Ino was confused for a moment, ready to start spitting out insults and questions to Chouji, until she realized where she was. What her mission was!

Chouji sighed, munching on a few more chips. Then, he said, "You've really got to learn how to shut up, Ino."

Ino pouted, muttering, "You've got to learn how to  _stop_  eating."

Chouji shrugged, obviously having heard what she said. Truthfully, he did not really care what Ino thought about his eating habits. She might be as skinny as a rail, but he had seen her eat like a horse and then complain about how he ate. She only made sure to work off the pounds she took in, building up her metabolism, because of Uchiha Sasuke. Not that it mattered anymore, because the whole village knew Uchiha was obviously looking elsewhere for his affection.

But from the looks of things, as the girl lightly hit Shikamaru on the arm, the Uchiha would be left in the dust—surprisingly. And the whole village would be stunned into silence, because  _no_  one had ever denied Uchiha Sasuke anything. The fact that a girl, the gender that often hounded at the Uchiha's heels, would be the first to do so, would probably bring about some type of chaos. Or death threats, since the fan-girls were sure to think she deserved some type of punishment for harming their precious Sasuke- _kun_.

Ino peeked over the bush once more, sighing a little in happiness at the fact that neither of them appeared to have heard her outburst. Of course, Shikamaru probably had, but the lazy-nin had probably deemed it as too troublesome of a task to turn his head to look. She muttered underneath her breath, wishing for once that Shikamaru would just get off his butt.

Higurashi Kagome leaned in, and Ino's smile turned brilliant when she saw the move. However, her smile disappeared when the girl only pulled at Shikamaru's ponytail a little, forcing the lazy-nin's attention onto her once more. She was smiling, giggling for some reason, but Ino felt no reason to smile anymore.

Really, how hard was it for two people to just admit they liked each other?

Chouji turned to his female teammate, and asked, "Why are we here again? We're not doing anything?"

"We're here," Ino huffed, "to make sure that Shikamaru finally gets off his lazy butt to tell Kagome he likes her! How many times must I explain the simplicity of this mission before you understand it?"

"Wow," Chouji chuckled.

"What?" Ino asked, confused. There was no reason for Chouji to be laughing, so she quickly turned her attention back to where Kagome and Shikamaru sat, wondering if she had missed anything. It did not look like it, since they were still chatting away—or Kagome was chatting, and Shikamaru was nodding his head once in a while.

"I'm surprised you know the word simplicity, is all," Chouji told her.

Ino scowled at him. Just because she was pretty and blonde, did  _not_  mean that she was stupid. And if Chouji tried to pull that one again, she was going to make sure that he knew the meaning of pain. Maybe not physical pain, but Ino was sure that she could mess up his mind a little.

"Don't blow up again," Chouji warned her. He frowned a little at his bag of chips, silently cursing Ino for dragging him out the door so quickly. He only had two bags left, and if she got her way, he would be here a lot longer than they would last. "You already blew our cover the last time you did, and I'm pretty sure Shikamaru now knows we're here because of it."

"Doubt it," Ino replied. "He's probably trying to concentrate on what Kagome's saying, instead of gazing at the clouds above his head. It's probably almost too much work for him!"

"You know," Chouji reminded her, "if Shikamaru set his mind to something, he'd do it."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard that a thousand times from you on the way here," Ino snapped. "I've known Shikamaru as long as you have, Chouji. He might be able to do something if he sets his mind to it, but do you see him setting his mind to this?"

Chouji muttered a little.

"Exactly!" Ino grinned. "Shikamaru's so lazy that by the time he gets off his butt, somebody will already have wooed Kagome and taken her from him. For example, it could be, Hyuuga Neji—"

"Could happen," Chouji agreed. There was no doubt in his mind that the Hyuuga Prodigy was already vying for Kagome's attention. He was constantly trying to spend time around her, do things for her, and show her that he would be the best to hold her heart. Of course, whether that was because he truly wanted to or because Hyuuga Hiashi was merely breathing down his neck, no one knew.

"Rock Lee—"

"Doubt it," Chouji snorted. Kagome might put up with the taijutsu specialist, but there was a clear nervousness that was in her stance each time she even stood near him, like she was waiting for him to try something. Probably because of his enthusiasm.

"Aburame Shino—" Ino added with a smile. Chouji could not deny that one!

"Possible, if she goes for that type of thing," Chouji muttered. However, there was also a key element of, if Kagome liked those who were silent and mysterious, why did she not go for Uchiha Sasuke's attention?

"Inuzuka Kiba—"

"You know, I really don't understand why you're saying their full name," Chouji said. "I know who they all are."

Ino scowled, continuing, "Naruto—"

Chouji chuckled at the very idea. He popped another chip into his mouth, waiting for anyone else that Ino would automatically assume could take away Shikamaru's  _love_. After all, he knew for a fact that Naruto saw Kagome as more of a sister figure, which was the only reason he hung around her so much.

"Gaara!" Ino roared, making sure to keep her voice down. She could not believe that Chouji was finding it funny! His own friend's love life, and he seemed to think it was hilarious. Any of them could snatch Kagome away, and then Shikamaru would be out in the cold, even if he would probably shrug and say that it would have been too much work to have a girlfriend anyway.

"Sasuke!" Chouji taunted, watching as Ino turned an interesting shade of red.

"No!" Ino cried. Chouji just had to go and add his name, when Ino was trying everything in her power to make sure that Sasuke's gaze returned to where it should have remained. On her! Though, she knew that Sasuke tried to deny it as much as possible, just to be fair to the other girls trying to get his attention.

"Yes!" Chouji mocked.

"No!" Ino whimpered.

"Yes!" Chouji said again.

"No, no, no!" Ino growled. Her anger was quickly rising, because she was determined to make sure that Shikamaru got what Sasuke wanted. Then he would have to settle for what he'd wanted before, even if that seemed really, really selfish of her. She just could not handle the thought that Sasuke might swoop down, capture Kagome's heart, and leave her stranded in the dust. She had tried too hard for too long for that to happen, even if it was one of her friends.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Chouji laughed. It was rather fun to watch Ino explode, especially when the two they were supposed to be watching were gazing at their hiding place. Shikamaru's look was rather bored, obviously recognizing the voices, while Kagome looked confused as to who could be fighting behind a bush.

Ino snarled, throwing a punch at Chouji. He easily dodged the attack, though, since her aim was off in her fit of anger. So, instead she decided to take out her anger on the one that was the cause of it all—Shikamaru!

Chouji only blinked when Ino reached down and practically ripped the sandal from her foot. She burst from the bush, obviously not caring anymore that she was blowing their hiding spot, and reared her hand back. The sandal gleamed like a weapon as she threw it, her aim straight and true as it slapped Shikamaru in the face. He was almost surprised, but he supposed that Shikamaru must have thought it was too troublesome to try and dodge the projectile.

"Damn it, Shikamaru!" Ino roared. "Move your ass already!"

Shikamaru reached up to rub at his bruised nose, while Kagome was trying to check the damage done, obviously concerned.

"I won't lose my precious Sasuke-kun just because you're such a lazy ass!" Ino raged. "I won't! Do you hear me, Shikamaru? I'll hunt you down if—"

Chouji grabbed her, darting into the forest back toward the village. She was beating her fists against his back, and he supposed that he should have listened to his first instinct not to push Ino so far.

"What the hell, Chouji!" Ino screamed. "Put me down! I've got to make sure that Shikamaru gets the girl!"

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied, his tone drawn out in a lazy tone.

Kagome frowned, but muttered, "Well, if you're sure."

"I am," Shikamaru replied.

"Good," Kagome smiled again. "I was also afraid I'd have to heal you, since I'm sure that must have hurt quite a bit. Ino might not look like it, but she's pretty strong."

Shikamaru rubbed his nose. The girl had no idea. "I suppose. I'm fine, though. Nothing that a little sleep won't fix."

Kagome glanced toward where Ino and Chouji had disappeared to, blinking in confusion. "I wonder what set her off, though," she said. "I think she yelled something about Sasuke-san, but that doesn't make any sense. You haven't done anything to him, have you?"

"No," Shikamaru replied. "But I have a pretty good idea why she was yelling."

"Care to share that piece of information?" Kagome asked.

"You," he muttered.

"Me?" she asked, positive she might have heard him wrong. However, the shinobi nodded his head, and Kagome brought her hand up to her chin to think. She frowned when she could not come up with the answer. Finally, she said, "I don't see why. I've only spent a little time around Sasuke-san while with Naruto-kun, but I haven't done anything to him. I'm not even sure if I could. I wonder, though, if this has to do with that time those girls wanted me to stay away from him?"

"Probably," Shikamaru replied. "They're pretty obsessed with him."

"I don't see why," Kagome sighed. "He's only a boy."

Shikamaru shrugged, deciding that he had answered enough questions already. It was rather troublesome to do so, and he preferred to hear Kagome speak anyway. So, he lay back in the grass, allowing his eyes to look up at the clouds that floated quietly over his head.

Kagome smiled at the picture he made, before tilting her head up to gaze at the clouds with him. She enjoyed the time with him, because everything seemed to slow down for a single moment. And she knew the reason it did, even if she did not want to admit it just yet.

As she gazed upon the clouds, though, she still had to wonder why Ino was yelling. But she supposed that she could always ask her later, considering they usually saw each other at least once a day. She was positive Ino would tell her—after all, they were friends.

_-Fin_


End file.
